


Big Brother

by possiblyobsessed



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017)
Genre: Angst, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Everyone in the ironfam needs a hug, Gen, I cried while writing this, I guess I have to acknowledge endgame eventually, Iron Fam, Peter Parker Needs a Hug, Peter and Morgan deserve to meet, Sad, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-28
Updated: 2019-05-28
Packaged: 2020-03-20 19:34:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,772
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18999112
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/possiblyobsessed/pseuds/possiblyobsessed
Summary: It’s unfair that Morgan Stark doesn’t know she was born into a broken half world.There is a picture in her kitchen of her dad and a boy she doesn’t know. She grows up asking about who the mysterious boy is, but no one can ever find the words to tell her that it’s Peter Parker, her older brother.





	Big Brother

It’s such an odd feeling to grow up knowing exactly what people talk about when you are not around, all the while having absolutely zero idea. She is five and she is too young to know what happened before she was born, but she knows it was big. She knows about the dark tendril that sneaks around the edges of their lives. Sometimes she sees the claws that wrap around her parents and try to take them away. Their conversations are about people she doesn’t know and a world-altering event that came before she did, and sometimes she imagines herself drowning in the water in her father’s eyes. Her lungs burn and her throat hurts.

They avoid the topic. Hidden in the kitchen there is a photo of her daddy and a boy she doesn’t know. She thinks this is one of the people she knows they talk about. He looks happy, though she can’t place it. Perhaps when she’s older she will realise it’s because his eyes possess a sparkle that people can no longer achieve. Like he’s laughing at a joke, or holding a bright gold trophy. Like he had snuck a cheeseburger right past him mummy and munched it down in one go. She bets they would be best friends if he ever came to visit her. It’s unfair that Morgan Stark doesn’t know she was born into a broken half world.

When she was two, she had pointed to the picture and said, “Who?”

There was a bitter silence. How did you tell a two year that the boy in the picture was her older brother? Someone who would have loved her with every inch of his being and suffocated her with affection. He is someone who would have hoisted her up onto his back and carried her around on a day long adventure. He would have snuck her into the labs and let her hold things she shouldn’t hold. Her first book would have been read to her by him, and he would have used a different voice for every character. Undoubtedly, the heroine of the story would have had her voice. After they read he would have tucked her in and kissed her forehead, and then given into her pleas and read another story. In another world, he would have been her big brother.

You couldn’t tell her that. That was the first time in her life that her father didn’t answer one of her questions. Instead, he left the room with demons threatening to jump from his body and spill from his eyes. That night Tony was plagued by images of him holding a trembling, dust covered hand up to his body. Before he could wake up it was followed by his house filled with photographs of Peter and Morgan in the lab, and in the forest, or down by that lake. For the first time since the snap he locked himself in and talked to no one for three days.

When she was three, she had pointed to the picture and said, “Who’s with Daddy?”

Her Uncle Rhodey had blanched. He stared at the picture, then her for some time. How did you tell a three-year-old that that was a boy who would have been enamoured with her? He would have held her hand and taken her to school when her parents were busy. Every weekend he would have snuck her out so they could have ice cream and watch puppies in the park. He was the boy that would have made sure she never had her heart broken. He would’ve been her extra guest to tea parties with friends if she liked that, or he would have stood on the sidelines of all her sports games if she liked that. If she liked both he would have done both with equal amounts of energy. Nights upon nights would have been spent between the two of them, finishing homework or playing board games. He was the boy who would have let her win every round. If things had gone better, he would have been her big brother.

You couldn’t tell her that. So, he simply said, “That’s Peter Parker.”

As he left the kitchen, Rhodey saw the way Peter used to jump for joy every time Star Wars was on TV. He remembered many a morning spent with him and Peter making fun of Tony as he cooked breakfast. His heart tightened when he thought of how scared he had been the first time he thought Peter was gone, after a stupid fight somewhere in Manhattan. He’s almost sure his heart was ripped from his chest when he remembered what it was like to know Peter was gone. Rhodey couldn’t look at Tony for a week without crying.

When she was four, she had pointed to the picture and said, “Tell me about Peter Parker.”

Her mother had smiled, a wistful smile that Morgan couldn’t begin to understand. A smile that was accompanied by watery eyes and a sudden frown. How do you tell a four-year-old that he is the reason for her, that he paved the way into her father’s heart and pried it open? Pepper wants to say so much, she has thought time and time again how she would tell her daughter about the boy, the child, who was a hero. But how does she tell her that he fought so hard to save what could have been? He is the boy that would have done anything for her. He would have dropped her off at her first school dance and he would have been back in time to pick her up. He would have ignored all the adults and taken her for a swing around Queens. She would have been the only one allowed to use his tech. She would have grown up wanting to be just like him, and he would have encouraged her to be so much more. Laughter he caused her would have been how people found them when they got lost on their adventures. In a correct universe, he would have been her big brother.

You couldn’t tell her that, so Pepper wiped her eyes and said, “He loves you. I know he does.”

When she cooked dinner, Pepper thought about all the times Peter had been by her side. It was more important to him that Tony stayed healthy than it was to Tony. She thought of how he held all levels of intellectual conversations, but was also the perfect person to turn to for a laugh. She had finally shed her tears when she thought about how Peter would have been, how he was, exactly the type of role model she wanted her daughter to grow up with.

Recently, she had pointed to the picture and said, “Why doesn’t Peter visit if he loves me?”

Her Uncle Happy had to sit down after that. Words stopped coming to him, always just out of his reach. How do you explain to a five-year-old that this was the boy who was stolen from her in the cruellest way possible? That he would have dropped everything, including a large-scale, limited edition Lego set, for even just a moment with her. There is no way he can help her to understand that this is the boy who would have introduced her to a world of wonders and discovery. He is the boy that should have seen her first steps, heard her first words, and got to hold her before she could move. He is also the boy that would have excitedly relayed such events back to everyone he could, even if they had been there when it happened. It would be impossible to be as proud of her as this boy would have been. It’s on the tip of his tongue to say that Peter is with her, always, and that he will be forever. That even in this damaged world, he is her big brother.

He had placed his head in his hands and said, “He does.”

Happy couldn’t look at Morgan for long for some time after that. Each time he had, he had seen the dark brown of her eyes and been flooded with regrets. Happy had never got the chance to tell Peter how much he meant to him. It was a fear he constantly relived, what if Peter thought he was annoyed by him. That night he had imagined a car trip with his two favourite kids, there was no partition closed between them and he listened as intently as always to their chattering. He never stopped wishing it was real.

Not long after, Morgan meets Peter for the first time. Everyone is wearing black, and there is so many people she doesn’t know. But she knows him immediately. She’s five and she doesn’t fully know why he has shown up and her daddy has disappeared, but she knows daddy is gone for the same reason Peter used to be. All the people come up and say sorry to her, but she doesn’t know why. She knows her mummy looks very nice, and that they hold onto each other for a long time. She doesn’t start crying until her mother does, and after that neither of them stop. When she finally stands in front of Peter for the first time, he starts crying to. The first time they meet, they hug each other and it reminds her so much of how her father hugged her.

She doesn’t see Peter for a long time after that. And then she does, and she sees so much of him all at once that she thinks she understands why her daddy is gone. And she thinks she understands why everyone told her Peter Parker loved her, and was there with her. Her and her mummy are very happy that she gets to grow up with Peter. Peter is too, she knows this, even though he sometimes starts crying when he looks at her.

Years later, the kitchen picture has found its home in Peter’s room. It sits where he sees it every day, and sometimes Morgan sneaks in to see it again.

When she is twelve, she says, “I’m so lucky I have you. I remember I used to ask everyone about you, including dad, but now I can hardly remember him.”

Peter breaks down before she finishes her sentence, but it’s okay because she’s crying by the end of it too. They hold each other for a long time, and the one thing she does know about her dad, is that he hugged just like this.

**Author's Note:**

> So I tried my hand at angst again, and I hope it’s okay. I cried writing this, but I could just be too emotionally attached to Tony (kidding I know I am). Anyway, I really want Peter and Morgan to meet. And I really want Tony back. That is all.   
> I hope you all enjoyed this.


End file.
